Lawyer: Derby-Lewis had to be resuscitated

Pretoria - Chris Hani’s killer Clive Derby-Lewis is in a more serious condition than the Department of Correctional Services would have the public believe.

This is according to his lawyer Marius Coertzee who said Derby-Lewis had to be resuscitated after he stopped breathing because of internal bleeding from a pierced lung.

Derby-Lewis was attacked for the second time at the Kgosi Mampuru prison on Sunday evening by an inmate who stabbed him in the back with a sharpened glass object.

Earlier this month, a different inmate stabbed him with a sharpened spoon, resulting in Derby-Lewis suffering several broken bones in his arm and several stab wounds to his face and body.

After a heated court battle between Coertzee and legal representatives for Correctional Services, a court order was granted, forcing the department to take Derby-Lewis to a private hospital. He was admitted to Eugene Marais hospital on Monday and has undergone tests and treatments.

“Doctors treated his arm with urgency because the previous hospital did not align the broken bones properly after the first attack. Those bones would never have grown closed and it could have resulted in gangrene. Doctors then focused on the skin cancer growth on his chest and were yet to get to other tests and treatment,” Coertzee said.

“The prison clinic put three stitches to the wound on his back from the glass attack, but never checked further. As a result they never picked up that his lung had been pierced and he was bleeding internally. He started suffocating on his own blood. Doctors had to assist.”

Coertzee said Derby-Lewis was due to undergo surgery this week. “We are not sure what the situation will be like when he returns to prison but we’re awaiting the parole application early next month,” he said.

Comment Guidelines

Has a comment offended you? Hover your mouse over the comment and wait until a small triangle appears on the right-hand side. Click triangle () and select "Flag as inappropriate". Our moderators will take action if need be.

Verified email addresses: All users on Independent Media news sites are now required to have a verified email address before being allowed to comment on articles. You are only required to verify your email address once to have full access to commenting on articles. For more information please read our comment guidelines